There are so many different methods to organize our busy lives. Some people like to use old-fashioned paper calendars, others like iCal, Blackberry, iPhone or Outlook. I decided to spend two hours with Google Calendar and share my experience.
It’s pretty easy and user-friendly. Since I already use Gmail – I installed the Google app so a mini calendar shows up on the left sidebar below my labels. The Quick Add feature allows you to type in something like: 3pm 7/19 Meeting with Client Name, location, phone. It can be typed in any order that makes sense to you. Then Google Calendar automatically places it on that date with a default of 1 hour. If I type in the time frame like 3-5 pm then it blocks out that time on the calendar. I put everything on one calendar – both business and personal. There is the option of creating several calendars though and that may make sense for your activities.
After I entered all my meetings, phone conferences, social events and other appointments I posted all the birthdays and anniversaries I want to remember. Here’s how I did that:
Click on Create Event
What: Mary Williams BD
When: I typed 10/9 then clicked the box that says All Day
Repeat: this is a dropdown box, so I chose every year
Ends: This automatically says Never
Then I clicked SAVE
The birthdays show up at the top of that particular day and don’t interfere with appointments that I enter throughout the day. It took about 15 seconds to enter each event.
Anytime I got stuck on something I clicked on Help and found the answer right away. I like being able to access my calendar when traveling. I started using “Tasks” however, as a company we really like HiTask for scheduling projects, timeframes, completed tasks, etc.
What’s your favorite method for organizing online?
Tags: Business Strategy, Google Calendar, Small Business, time management
